sunset, duck and palm tree...Please C&C

TamiAz · Oct 14, 2011

I went out during sunset this afternoon...I'm on Fall break right now (I teach), so I'm taking any opportunity to practice.

1) I underexposed this on purpose so I would get a sillouette against the sky..Do you think it works?
300mm, f/9, 1/15s

2) I really liked the way this picture came out..
18mm, f/10, 1/25s

3) I think this is underexposed, but I like how you can see a touch of sunlight on his head..
300mm, f/7.1, 1/200s

Thank you!!

arcooke · Oct 14, 2011

#1 - Pretty colors, but really there's just nothing much of interest there. Way oversaturated.
#2 - This one has some potential. If the leaves weren't cut off on the sides, and that stray tree wasn't in the picture at the bottom left, I'd say this was a great shot. Nice colors, good perspective, well composed.
#3 - A few things wrong with this one. The duck is a bit soft, but you should be able to correct most of that with some sharpening. DOF is perhaps a bit too shallow. Stray duck on the left sneaking into the shot is a bit distracting. Yellows are blown out on the right side. Decent composition.

TamiAz · Oct 14, 2011

arcooke said:
#1 - Pretty colors, but really there's just nothing much of interest there. Way oversaturated.
#2 - This one has some potential. If the leaves weren't cut off on the sides, and that stray tree wasn't in the picture at the bottom left, I'd say this was a great shot. Nice colors, good perspective, well composed.
#3 - A few things wrong with this one. The duck is a bit soft, but you should be able to correct most of that with some sharpening. DOF is perhaps a bit too shallow. Stray duck on the left sneaking into the shot is a bit distracting. Yellows are blown out on the right side. Decent composition.

Thank you for your input...I tend to have a heavy hand when it comes to saturation.

I went back and made some changes based on your feedback and the pictures look better. I posted the pictures with the changes. Does the first one still look oversaturated?

arcooke · Oct 15, 2011

Those are looking better color-wise, yeah. I tend to go a little crazy on saturation myself.. and I usually don't notice it until the next day with a fresh look.

#1 - Again, pretty sky but this is just a boring picture. The roofs and trees just aren't doing anything other than getting in the way. Had you been in a different location, you could have made a heck of a silhouette shot out of this. Suburban backyards just aren't the most photogenic things in the world.
#2 - The old version was better. I loved the dramatic look of it when you were able to see more of the trunk. Don't take my last comment as it being a bad picture, it was actually very nice. I was just saying that ideally, it would be nice that stray tree wasn't there and the leaves weren't cut off. It was still a nice shot.

That is something I could see travel websites buying that up as a stock photo. Just has an awesome range of colors, and a good perspective.
#3 - I like the water much more now. So much more natural and peaceful. It made the shallow DOF look better too. I preferred your original composition with the duck towards the bottom-left, but this is still nice.

TamiAz · Oct 15, 2011

arcooke said:
Those are looking better color-wise, yeah. I tend to go a little crazy on saturation myself.. and I usually don't notice it until the next day with a fresh look.

#1 - Again, pretty sky but this is just a boring picture. The roofs and trees just aren't doing anything other than getting in the way. Had you been in a different location, you could have made a heck of a silhouette shot out of this. Suburban backyards just aren't the most photogenic things in the world.
#2 - The old version was better. I loved the dramatic look of it when you were able to see more of the trunk. Don't take my last comment as it being a bad picture, it was actually very nice. I was just saying that ideally, it would be nice that stray tree wasn't there and the leaves weren't cut off. It was still a nice shot. That is something I could see travel websites buying that up as a stock photo. Just has an awesome range of colors, and a good perspective.
#3 - I like the water much more now. So much more natural and peaceful. It made the shallow DOF look better too. I preferred your original composition with the duck towards the bottom-left, but this is still nice.